EXCLUSIVE: Candice Accola Dishes on Life as a Vampire

But the actress has essentially received a promotion this season, bumped up to the role of full-fledged blood sucker. Below, she speaks exclusively to TV Fanatic about the character of Caroline and what lies ahead ...

Caroline is one bad-ass vamp! Pretty sure everyone fell in love with vampire Caroline from the “you suck” line.Yes she is! Julie Plec actually told me about that line before we got that script. She was talking about it since they had already plotted out that episode. I anticipated that line for a while, so I was very excited to shoot it.

What can we look for in season two?Action, action, action. This season is very fast-paced. The first season told the story, and second season... just hold on for the ride.

Do you think Caroline took it easy on Damon, considering everything he put her through?Definitely. At the same time, Caroline is very new to this whole world of being a vampire and what she’s capable of and what she’s not capable of. In order to become a vampire, part of you dies. It’s a very, traumatizing thing. That fact that Damon has already tried to kill her again... she doesn’t know how powerful he is. In her mind, what if he’s as powerful as Katherine? I think there’s only so much playing with fire you want to do when you’re already half dead. It’d be a little scary to push his buttons too much until she knows what she’s capable of, and more importantly what he is capable of.

We ended of last week's episode with Katherine and Caroline. Anything you can spoil about that?I can’t tell too much since the writers did such a good job. I can say that Katherine is very used to getting what she wants and she’s not going anywhere. She’ll be playing in Mystic Falls for a while. Katherine and Caroline's paths will continue to cross. The viewers will just have to wait.

Explain Caroline's decision to force Matt to dump her.I think something that’s very human in becoming a vampire for Caroline is that she gains perspective. She recognized an unhealthy relationship, essentially. Part of growing up is looking at the bigger picture of not only what’s best for you but whats best for someone you love, whether that’s a lover or a family member or a friend and I think that she’s starting to do that. The Caroline in first season, if she was going through something traumatic, she would be like... "but I love you and I want to tear you down with me. If I’m going down you’re going with me because I need someone with me to figure this out with."

She’s starting to find a little more security in herself, where she’s recognizing someone else being happy is more important than her always feeling loved by them.

Is it completely over for them?Honestly, I really don’t know. It’s the second season, and just like with any relationship you realize, how do you know when it’s ever over? Obviously there are certain points where, goodness, you hope so and should be. But you never know. They’re still going to be in the same town and in the same group and their paths will cross, so stay tuned!

Are you on Team Delena or Stelena?I don’t know, the billboards where all three of them are together is pretty sexy [laughs]. Everyone’s on team Delena right now, but I think it’s just going to keep going back and forth. Neither one if a perfect relationship. I’m going to go with team Delena. You always want what you can’t have and that one’s definitely complicated. Makes for a good watch.

Will we be seeing more of Stefan helping Caroline through her journey?She needs someone like him to help her. She can’t talk about it with her mom, obviously. She’s on the outs with Bonnie right now and Elena can only relate so much and she doesn’t trust Damon. She can’t talk to Matt. Stefan is the only one in her life that’s saying “you can talk to me, you can trust me, and I’m going to protect you the best I can." It’s opened up an opportunity for a beautiful relationship, and a vampire guru of sorts for Caroline.

In episode two, a lot of viewers translated Elena’s “this isn’t us” quote to Bonnie as a way of holding on to someone who is still human. Would you consider Bonnie part of “us” or part of the supernatural?My interpretation is that “us” meant that there is good and there is evil. There’s people who have morals and there are people that don’t. In Mystic Falls, whether you are supernatural or human, there are those with morals and those without. By "us," she meant we don’t just kill because we want someone to be killed. We have justice, we have morals, we have perspective.

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You want a love that consumes you. You want passion and adventure, and even a little danger... I want you to get everything you're looking for. But for right now, I want you to forget that this happened. Can't have people knowing I'm in town yet. Goodnight, Elena.

Damon: You know what they are? Children. Like lighting a candle's going to make everything OK, or even saying a prayer. Or pretending Elena's not going to end up just like the rest of us murdering vampires. Stupid, delusional, exasperating little children. And I know what you're going to say: 'It makes them feel better, Damon.' So what? For how long? A minute, a day? What difference does it make? Because in the end, when you lose somebody, every candle, every prayer is not going to make up for the fact that the only thing you have left is hole in your life where that somebody that you cared about used to be. And a rock with a birthday carved into it that I'm pretty sure is wrong. So thanks, friend. Thanks for leaving me here to babysit. Because I should be long gone by now. I didn't get the girl, remember? I'm just stuck here fighting my brother and taking care of the kids. You owe me big.Alaric: I miss you too, buddy.